SPOTD: a phone-free day

Today's Simple Pleasure of the Day happened by accident.  My sister and I along with her boyfriend went shopping in Anaheim.  On the way to picking up said boyfriend from LAX, we realized I forgot my phone at my grandparents house where we are staying for a few days.  Normally my gut reaction is to panic like I instead lost my left arm, but the sensation of having my phone be miles away from me temporarily was much more freeing on this particular afternoon.  There was no urge to check message or fuss with any apps.  The most anxiety of the day was not knowing what time it was unless I found a clock in the mall or asking somebody.  In some ways, that made the day last longer for some reason.

Consider an occasional "phone-free day" as a liberating less-technical refresh to:

- Spend more time in the day with the people you care about in a instead of with a multitasking device day.  I could have been fussing with my phone for a good chunk of our shopping time but instead I focused on the less-than-frequent moments I have with my sister.  I wasn't the best sister growing up in the "we're best friends who do fun stuff together" way.  (I was more of the "she's my sister, why would I want to hang out with her, I live with her!" type of sister because we were/are both such opposites) On the few-times-a-year family occasions I find it important to spend time with her and try not to get annoyed or judgmental like I used to.

- Save money?  Data, phone calls, and messages are chargeable activities depending on your smart phone's plan, but face-to-face conversation is always free right.

- Addictions to technology are not healthy.  My left arm wise-crack is partially serious with how it feels without something I believe to be "sacred" in my own little way.  Feeling lost, alone, and hopeless just because a little technical box is not attached to your body in some way sounds a little silly dontcha think?  Learn to spend some time apart with your devices and left-arm-loosing panic will cease.

Well technically I'm using the word "day" in "phone-free day" loosely due to the fact that I did not touch my phone from midnight-ish last night until I got home from shopping during the daylight part of the today before dinnertime.  In case somebody calls me out on a technicality by seeing a post on Facebook or something on this night, this is why...